Bishop
by VideoDude
Summary: When 19 year old farm boy Mason rescues the queen of Antos; the kingdom he lives in, he is given the opportunity to compete in a tournament to become a 'Bishop', a personal guard for a member of the royal family. Set in the middle ages of the 1200s, will this farm boy rise to the occasion and have the ability to take on such an important role?


Mason Rolland awoke to the sound of the rooster crying its cock-a-doodle-doo and stretched his body out, turning his head away from the window so that the sunlight wouldn't hurt his eyes as he opened them. The morning was cold and bright, and he wasn't ready for it after being pulled from sleep just before his dream was getting good. He sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes with his fists. He had had a late night writing music for his guitar he had purchased from the store in town. Since a young age, Mason had loved guitar. He sat around the town centre watching the bards play their tunes and busk for money. His uncle had passed an old one on to him but he was never rich enough to afford a new one, but after working on his father's farm for months, he had finally made enough to purchase one of his own.

Mason stood up out of bed to his full height at 6'2" at which point he stretched and yawned. He scratched the back of his head, his fingers running through his messy blonde hair. He walked into his makeshift bathroom to look at the plate metal sheet hanging on the wall that had been polished to work as a mirror. His baby blue eyes stared back at him as he inspected his chin. He hated shaving, but his mother taught him to always look his best because she wanted grandchildren. He sighed and decided to leave his stubble there for the day as he left the room.

Mason had crafted his own living quarters after he'd had enough of constantly fighting with his father. He was still living on the farm, but was on the other side of the property and still helped out as much as he could. His family only just made enough at the market stall his mother ran selling their produce to get by. Their king was not oppressive, and normally they'd be doing just fine, however due to bandit raids and attacks from animals, they aren't doing so well.

Mason walked the long walk to the house to wake up his father for training. His father was giving Mason fighting lessons and teaching him how to use a sword, just in case some bandits should attack their farm during one of their raids. Being young, strong and quick, he could defend his mother a lot better than his father could, as much as it injured his father's pride to admit it. They had been practicing this training for some time. In fact they had been training for months now, just in case a competition for sword fighting came up that he could win some money in for the family.

After his father grudgingly rose from his sleep, the two of them went to the back yard to practice. It was an open area and they could move around easily there. The two of them had only just started getting into the swing of things before they heard the front door swing open and Mason's mother went frantically running about the house, searching for them. They ran inside, still holding their swords hoping there wasn't anything too seriously wrong. His mother had a way of overdramatizing things.

"Dear, slow down and tell me what is the matter?!" his father had finally gotten fed up with asking while she was running about. "Is it a bandit attack?"

"No no no no, it's the queen! The queen of Antos is having her carriage roll through town on her way to a meeting and we have to look our best for it! She comes past in 20 minutes!" She cried as she ran into her room to get changed and cleaned up.

Both the men looked at each other, rolled their heads back and groaned. Neither of them had ever given a toss about the royal family and how special they were. They wanted to stay back on the farm and work to make some more money. They were about to walk back out to continue training before Mason's mother called out "And you two had better look sharp too! We're all going to go see!"

They dropped their shoulders and groaned further. Mason's father spun around and returned to the room to get ready. Mason went out the back door and trudged toward his shack at the back of the farm to get cleaned up. The farm was currently in bloom and all the plant and animal life frolicked about. Mason hissed and waved his arms at some rabbits that were hanging around the carrot crop to get them to piss off. Animals were one of their biggest money losses but were also one of their main food sources. Mason would occasionally leap on a rabbit that would be a nice lunch.

After about 15 minutes was up, the family of three was walking down the road to the town centre. The town they were in had a market about the town centre, with housing travelling down the road sides of the three paths that branched from the town centre. Everyone went to the town centre at least twice a week. The stalls there were great for spending a small bit of cash on nice things, but Mason's family was never well off enough to afford the proper stores that stood behind the stalls.

The carriage could be seen down the path heading north towards them, accompanied by two soldiers on horseback. Mason's mother quickly turned around to inspect her boys. Her husband was doing his best to look big and strong, although he would need more work on the strong part, but Mason wasn't paying much attention at all. He was focused on the stores and wondering what it would be like to be wealthier. His mother started tugging at his hair and neatening him up. At which point she found he was carrying a hunting knife on the back of his person. She pulled it out and held it in front of him.

"Mason, are you serious?! Gosh…" she put it back in its sheath, deciding to deal with it later, as the carriage was growing closer from the south and she had to perk herself up to smile.

Mason watched the carriage roll past and the queen's hand waving out the window, wearing a white glove. He was quite disinterested until he looked past the carriage toward the hill just west of the town centre, on the other side of the carriage. Atop the hill stood three men, one of which was holding something that resembled a long stick, which he held in the centre. The two men each side him also had large stick looking objects which they held at the bottom.

Mason's heart skipped a beat as he realized it was an archer and swordsmen. "BANDITS!" he yelled, pulling his parents to the floor and startling everyone around him. "They're on the hill to the west! Look out!"

His warning was too late. One horseback guard looked toward the direction he indicated, but copped an arrow through his throat and fell off the horse. This caused a panic and the townspeople began to run around in chaos, causing the carriage to tip, the horse without a guard to bold toward the north, and the other guard was left helplessly trying to get to the queen to ensure her safety. Mason glanced back toward the hill to find that only the archer remained, and was walking ever so slowly toward the town, but more frighteningly the two who were holding swords were growing very close very fast.

"Take mum home now!" Mason yelled to his father, who nodded with fear but did just that. He helped up his wife and they ran for the house to the north, his mother screaming and reaching back for Mason. Mason went to the fallen guard and took his sword. The metal was lighter than he was used to and felt a lot easier to hold and use. The sword he and his father used for training was only very poorly crafted and heavy.

The bandits were close now and only one guard was left. Mason ran to confront them with the guard that remained. The bandits wore leather armour that had only been poorly made but offered enough protection without being heavy. The kind of armour Mason would prefer. Mason picked the bandit on the right and the remaining guard had already started running for the one on the left. Mason had picked the smaller target, but only because he had less experience than the guard.

Mason and the bandit circled one another for a few moments until the bandit took the first step. He lifted his sword and swung at Mason at about neck level. Mason saw the bandit raise his weapon and ducked pre-emptively, giving him enough room to step behind the bandit. The bandit followed through with his swing and brought it back up at Mason, who stepped back only just in the nick of time and let his arms roll back to let the bandit's longsword swing upward and miss him completely, sending the bandit off balance. Mason took this opportunity to take a stab at the bandit with his sword. He crouched down and thrust the sword forward with both hands, burying the blade deep into the bandit's chest, through the side of his ribcage. The bandit screamed a blood-curdling cry, before dropping his weapon and falling to the floor, with Mason's newly acquired sword still lodged in his torso.

The battle was not over yet though, as the other bandit was still standing. Mason reached back and pulled out his knife. The bandit had pinned the other guard to the ground with the guard's own sword and now turned his attention toward Mason. They stared each other down for a moment before a flaming arrow flew between them and buried itself in the bottom of the carriage beside them, which was now the side of the carriage as it had fallen over. He flipped his knife around so he was holding it the reverse way you would hold a sword. This way he had the blunt side of the knife against his arm should he need to parry a swing from the sword.

Mason crouched down his battle stance, and took notice of the now burning carriage. He had a time limit to get the queen out of there if he was going to do so successfully.

The bandit raised his sword and took a step toward Mason, bringing it down toward his head. Mason leaned to his left, resting his torso on the knee of the bandit and rolling around him over the bandit's crouched leg. Mason now stood back to back with the bandit who had now buried his blade in the sand. With a sigh of relief that he had won, Mason turned to thrust the knife into the back of the bandit, but his victory was cut short as the bandit dropped hold of his sword and threw a strong elbow into Mason's chest, knocking him back onto the floor and knocking the wind out of him. Mason tried to sit up but his chest flared up with pain, causing Mason to clutch it and lay back down on the ground. One of his ribs was wounded quite badly.

The bandit grunted, grabbed his sword and pulled it out of the ground with a roar. He turned back toward Mason, who attempted to scurry backward toward safety, but could only scurry so fast with injured ribs. The remaining bandit lifted the sword above his head and was ready to bring it down on Mason like he did a few moments ago, but suddenly stopped and fell to the side. The guard that he had pinned to the floor had pulled out a crossbow, and buried a bolt into the back of the bandit's head, killing him instantly. The guard then pointed toward the carriage that was on fire still.

Mason rolled over and pushed up off the ground. He then looked back toward the hilltop, where the archer was standing with his bow now on his back. The bandit turned and ran away, further west of the hill. Mason shambled over to the carriage as fast as he could, and climbed up the back of it, causing him much pain. The bottom of the carriage was ablaze, and the queen had not yet emerged from it.

Mason gripped the handle of the carriage and pulled as hard as he could to open the heavy wooden door upward. His ribs hurt, the smoke clogged his throat, and the fire stung the left side of his body with heat, but he was determined to save this woman's life.

* * *

**Hello ladies and gentlemen! :)**

**I've got a new story for you~**

**Now, this definitely does NOT mean the end for EME. The way I tackle writer's block is by writing through it with something new, and I thought I'd share this with you because I quite liked it. This is my attempt at fighting through some writer's block I'm currently experiencing for EME. But I'll work through it.**

**Anyway, super long chapter for the pilot of this new story! PLEASE let me know what you think, as I might just continue this alongside EME. It would certainly help me come up with more ideas for it.**

**Anyway, let me know what you think! Remember to review and I'll remember to keep writing :)**  
**Catch you next time!**  
**- Nick**


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